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The school year that ends Thursday, May 24, marks five school years since the historic change in public education kicked off in August 2013 with the one-year merger of city and county schools followed by the demerger into seven public school systems within the county.

Shelby County commissioners reappointed former commissioner Julian Bolton as their legislative policy adviser Monday, May 14, sending his reappointment, effective to the end of September, to Mayor Mark Luttrell, who vetoed an earlier version of the appointment in April.

It hasn’t been this hot in 30 years … to the day. The high Monday of 93 degrees eclipsed the old record for the day of 91 degree in 1988. I’m not much of a thermometer watcher. But this did get my attention because I was imagining all of the big hair emergencies 30 years ago. Guys going to their closets to break out the Miami Vice pastel t-shirts and linen blazers. And of course California Raisins hysteria. And I do find it not entirely coincidental that we break a record from 1988 as there is talk of a remake of the movie “Willow.” We could break another record for all of this Tuesday and we’ll see what my mind does with the year of the old record if that’s the case.

Shelby County commissioners reappointed former commissioner Julian Bolton as their legislative policy advisor Monday, May 14, sending the reappointment to the end of September to county mayor Mark Luttrell who vetoed an earlier version in April.

Advocates of expanding prekindergarten services countywide to 8,500 students over several years got a surprise last week when Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell outlined the administration’s funding for its share of the funding.

Shelby County commissioners put off a vote Wednesday, May 9, on overriding Mayor Mark Luttrell’s veto of a resolution to renew the appointment of Julian Bolton as the county’s legislative policy adviser.

Shelby County commissioners put off a vote Wednesday, May 9, on overriding Mayor Mark Luttrell’s veto of a resolution to renew the appointment of Julian Bolton as the county’s legislative policy adviser.

The new Shelby County mayor and County Commission elected in August will have some major budget decisions to make once they take office Sept. 1, including a new Regional One Health Center building that could cost more to build than the $250 million FedExForum and a permanent source of county funding for the universal prekindergarten effort.

The Alliance of American Football announces its presence in Memphis Thursday afternoon at the Liberty Bowl. And so begins another chapter in the city’s colorful history of start-up leagues. It is a long history dominated by football with a good stretch of the timeline taking in the city’s pursuit of an NFL franchise. Sometimes the rules are a bit different and the leagues have a history of not lasting very long. But they are fondly remembered.

Shelby County commissioners put off a vote Wednesday, May 9, on overriding Mayor Mark Luttrell’s veto of a resolution to renew the appointment of Julian Bolton as the county’s legislative policy adviser.

Shelby County commissioners put off any vote Wednesday, May 9, on overriding a veto by Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell because the commission office delivered the wrong version of the resolution passed in April that Luttrell vetoed.

Shelby County Commissioners have a busy committee day Wednesday with a budget presentation – county mayor Mark Luttrell’s final one as the county’s chief executive, more discussions about the Graceland plan and a veto override.

Shelby County commissioners appeared on their way to a public records controversy before a Wednesday special meeting on a potential veto override.

The new controversy emerged Tuesday, May 8, as two un-named county commissioners requested to see how much former county commissioner Julian Bolton has billed the county in legal fees as the commission’s legislative policy advisor.

Shelby County commissioners vote Wednesday, May 9, in special session on whether to override a veto by Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell of their decision to reappoint attorney Julian Bolton as the commission’s “legislative policy adviser.”

Happy Monday. This weekend is the one between the Beale Street Music Festival and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, but there are still Memphis in May International events to attend. Great month to be in Memphis!

It turns out election turnout in Tuesday’s county primary elections was up from the same election cycle four years ago – almost 19,000 more voters – a 14.9 percent turnout if you only go by the number of “active” voters – 13.4 percent if you go with combined active and “inactive”. Yes, when last we met, I said it was a decrease from 2014. It’s not. And here is how that happened.

Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell is proposing a rollback of the $4.11 county property tax rate to $4.05 in his last budget proposal to the Shelby County Commission.

Luttrell will formally present the $1.3 billion consolidated county government budget to commissioners at Wednesday, May 9, committee sessions. The proposal, known as the budget book, was delivered to individual commissioners Monday.

Republican David Lenoir and Democrat Lee Harris will meet in the Aug. 2 county general election to decide who will be the next Shelby County mayor. Lenoir and Harris won their respective primaries easily Tuesday, May 1, 2018.

The three Republican primary contenders for Shelby County mayor have spent a lot of their time together talking about taxes this campaign season.

Shelby County commissioner Terry Roland has talked about the last budget season’s two-cent reduction in the county property tax rate after the tax rate was adjusted down to a new certified rate following the 2017 property reappraisal.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery says lawsuits by local prosecutors over the opioid epidemic are complicating his efforts to reach a multistate settlement with drug companies. In response, the prosecutors, who represent about half of Tennessee's counties, say local communities lose out when lawsuits like theirs are rolled into one settlement.

In an increasingly interconnected world, having a cohesive economic regionalism strategy is becoming more of a must-have for successful metropolitan areas.

To facilitate this, the Urban Land Institute held Memphis’ first RegionSmart Summit in 2016 to gather all of the area’s government, economic development and community leaders in one place to collectively address some of the region’s most pressing planning and development issues.

It’s been so long that when someone talks about trolleys in this town of ours, you might think of the ones with rubber tires that have been running for the last four years. You might be part of the discussion about larger changes to the city public transportation system and some wondering about where trolleys should be in the way of priorities. Or you may have been someone caught by surprise during the recent trolley tests by how quiet the new ones are.

Good morning, Memphis! It’s time for Africa in April, which in the minds of many Memphians, is the seasonal kick-off for festivals. The annual Southern Hot Wing Festival comes this weekend on Tiger Lane, so get ready for good times to replace that winter weather. Check out what else you need to know about in The Week Ahead...

This could be your last chance to see the Mississippi River Museum at Mud Island River Park as it has been for about the last 30 years. The park on the southern half of Mud Island opens for the season Saturday. The museum will be open only through July 4 is what is billed as a “limited run” followed by a public engagement process for “reimagining how we tell the story of the Mississippi River in a 21st century way,” according to park general manager Trey Giuntini in a Thursday press release.

Some call it the Bakery Project – others Wonder Bread. Whatever you call it the redevelopment project that is centered on the old Wonder Bread bakery on Monroe between Downtown and the Medical District is moving with a building permit this week for what developer Gary Prosterman and his team call the Cadillac Building … because it was once a Cadillac dealership. That’s part of the code being used for places that have been out of action or barely functioning for decades and are now under development.... very post-apocalyptic.

Early voting in the first of three 2018 elections in Shelby County opens Wednesday at 21 sites across the county and runs through April 26.

The primaries are led by contests for county mayor, all 13 seats on the county commission and most of the county’s elected offices. The remainder are in the other even-year election cycle or have an eight-year term of office that comes around next in 2022.

The peak of the MLK50 events came Wednesday with a chill but some sunshine and lots to consider. Understand -- this isn’t over. There are still a few more events to go through the weekend and even into next week. If nothing else, a lot more Memphians and visitors got a good look at most of South Main in the best way possible – on foot. And if the Beale Street District ever expands east to Danny Thomas, the intersection there makes a really good place for a party.

Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell says placing a moratorium on any contracts or budget amendments through the end of August is “counterproductive” and he is considering, among other reactions, a veto of the measure approved Monday, April 2, by the Shelby County Commission.

With the estimate last month of an $18 million to $25 million county budget surplus for the fiscal year that ends June 30, taxes are about to become an even bigger issue in the Republican primary for Shelby County mayor.

The subject of county government’s $18 million to $25 million projected revenue surplus didn’t surface once this week as the Shelby County Commission’s budget committee continues to prepare for budget season. The Wednesday, March 28, committee session was the first since County Mayor Mark Luttrell’s administration said it is estimating the surplus for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, because of better-than-expected county property tax collections and fewer appeals of property tax reappraisals.

Shelby County government expects to have a revenue surplus of $18 million to $25 million at the end of the current fiscal year, county chief administrative officer Harvey Kennedy told county commissioners Friday, March 23.

He has his own GPS, an internal shield that keeps him from driving anywhere near 637 Poplar Ave. Home to the Memphis morgue. That’s where they showed Jerry Davidson his 22-year-old son, Oliver, his eyes closed and his lips purple.

After voters defeated two ballot questions in two years for sales tax increases – city and county – to fund an expansion of prekindergarten classrooms primarily in Memphis, the effort is back with a momentum that seemed unlikely five years ago.

The city has a plan to provide $6 million of the $16 million needed to fully fund prekindergarten in Memphis for 8,500 children starting when a federal grant that currently funds 1,000 of the existing 7,000 seats runs out in 2019.

Shelby County commissioners have plenty to occupy their time as they await the arrival of budget season in May. There is the planning and terms of the county getting into the sewer business, opioid programs and a lawsuit. There is also the exploration with the Memphis City Council and Greater Memphis Chamber of repositioning the city’s economic development pursuits.

So it begins as it always does in the world of Tigers basketball. Gary Parrish of CBSSports reporting the University of Memphis is considering a change from Tubby Smith to Penny Hardaway. Hardaway’s name last surfaced during the exit of Josh Pastner. This time around, the report is that Hardaway has already started rounding up possible staff members. This will either vanish with a very quiet poof and University officials saying they always review their options at the end of the regular season or it will move swiftly to an announced deal.

When 20 of the 26 Memphis City Council members and Shelby County Commissioners got together Thursday, March 1, at Beale Street Landing, the idea of county government providing funds to expand access to prekindergarten got resistance on the county side.

When 20 of the 26 Memphis City Council members and Shelby County Commissioners got together Thursday, March 1, at Beale Street Landing, the idea of some kind of county government funding for expanding access to pre-kindergarten ran into some resistance on the county side.

During long careers with both the U.S. Navy and Shelby County government, Harvey Kennedy is most proud of being able to maintain integrity, honesty and objectiveness, with a focus in the latter half of his career on getting the best return for the taxpayers of Shelby County.

The federal government technically shutdown at midnight in Washington, D.C., Friday for the second time in 17 days. But the House and Senate were still going for a vote on a two-year budget compromise before dawn Friday morning as this is posted.

In an effort to encourage residential infill and density beyond the confines of Downtown and Midtown, new legislation is making its way through the Tennessee Senate and House of Representatives that would allow Shelby County to offer tax incentives to multifamily and hotel developers outside of the central business district.

In an effort to encourage residential infill and density beyond the confines of Downtown and Midtown, new legislation is making its way through the Tennessee Senate and House of Representatives that would allow Shelby County to offer tax incentives to multifamily and hotel developers outside of the central business district.

For the late Bobby Dunavant, who worked as Shelby County Probate Court Clerk for 40 years from 1954 to 1994, qualities like being honest, accessible, generous, empathetic and highly attentive to detail made him beloved by friends and colleagues throughout his life.

A very busy Monday and I feel like some of this is may be fueled by some of us just now getting completely over the flu or someone close who has the flu for the first time in the New Year. Whatever the case, Monday came with a curtain call of sorts by Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, a court order on the Confederate monuments, year-end stats on crime in Memphis and countywide… a PILOT here, a building permit or three there.

An opioid epidemic lawsuit the county will bring against defendants still needs questions answered and a better focus, Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell said on the WKNO/Channel 10 program “Behind The Headlines.”

Supermarkets are hard. That is the tag line in every discussion about getting a supermarket or grocery store for a given part of town that doesn’t have one. And once a new supermarket goes up somewhere else, there is inevitably word that a competitor or two is going to build nearby. The discussion always includes the mandatory recitation of the 3 to 4 percent profit margin stores operate on, which even knowledgeable critics of the decisions about where to locate and not to locate stores acknowledge is accurate.

Shelby County elections administrator Linda Phillips has been watching the ebb and flow of petitions for the 2018 elections and has found what she believes is a link to the weather. “Apparently when the dreaded ‘snow’ word is mentioned in the forecast, not only do people go out and clear the shelves of milk, bread and eggs. They also decide to pick up a petition,” she wrote in an email with the list of who has pulled and who has filed in the last two days.

Shelby County commissioners meet Monday, Jan. 8, for the first time in 2018 and have a fairly simple agenda along with some longer-range issues to discuss.

Among the more immediate items on Monday’s agenda is a $1.5 million contract for mobile data terminals, tablets and vehicle wireless routers that Tate Computer Systems Inc. of Memphis would provide to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

No protest or march permits applied for at City Hall as of Thursday morning in anticipation of a Saturday Confederate monuments protest, according to city chief legal officer Bruce McMullen at Thursday’s taping of “Behind The Headlines.” Our discussion included lots about the city’s move toward taking down the monuments Dec. 20 and what could happen next. Also, McMullen tells us there were some other nonprofits that talked with the city about Health Sciences and Memphis Parks before Memphis Greenspace. The show airs Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on WKNO TV.

With resolutions made and the new year now, another annual exercise rises to the forefront – predictions on what Memphis and its economy can expect in 2018.

If 2017 taught us anything, it’s that there’s so much we won’t be able to even remotely see coming, from Memphis bidding to become the potential home for Amazon’s second headquarters to action finally being taken on the Confederate monuments in city parks and so much more.

Later this month, Shelby County government will roll out a public health effort led by the Shelby County Health Department to battle opioid addiction. “We’re taking a very long view of this. It’s not going to be a quick fix,” Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell told Shelby County Commission members Wednesday, Jan. 3, during committee sessions.

In a century of life that began in Memphis, Lewis Donelson was many things including an attorney, politician and strategist. In all of those pursuits and others, he was one of the city’s most influential citizens and a force in some of the most historic moments in the city’s history as well as the state’s history.

There is a lack of guidance from the state to juvenile courts across the state and a lack of consistency among those courts in how they deal with juveniles, according to a 25-page report issued this month by a joint ad hoc Tennessee Blue Ribbon Task Force of the Tennessee Legislature.

Shelby County commissioners voted 10-0 Monday, Dec. 18, to raise the pay of the Shelby County sheriff elected in 2018 from $116,955 a year to $135,575 annually.

The ordinance approved was an amended version of an earlier ordinance that was voted down in November, coming up short of the nine votes – a two-thirds majority – needed to pass. Two related ordinances were also voted down in November that would have raised the pay of four other county elected officials and all 13 county commissioners effective with those elected in 2018. Those two ordinances were not reconsidered by the commission Monday.

Shelby County commissioners voted 10-0 Monday, Dec. 18, to raise the pay of the Shelby County sheriff elected in the 2018 elections from the current $116,955 a year to $135,575 annually.

The passage of the ordinance was a reconsidered and amended version of an earlier ordinance that was voted down in November, coming up short of the nine-vote two-thirds majority needed to pass. Two other ordinances were also voted down in November that would have raised the pay of four other countywide elected officials and all 13 county commissioners effective with those elected in 2018. Those two ordinances were not reconsidered by the commission.

With a ruling dissolving a temporary injunction, Shelby County Chancellor Jim Kyle has ended the part of a dispute between the Shelby County Commission and Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell over opioid litigation that had been in Chancery Court.

When Memphis leaders got together with suburban mayors in September at Agricenter, it was to talk about a unified countywide approach to getting Amazon’s $5 billion HQ2 project.

It was supposed to be a time for leaders of the county and its seven cities to talk about their common good, regionalism and all things they agree on, with none of what they disagree on at least for the moment.

The Grizz fall to 8-19 with a loss Monday to the Miami Heat 107-82 at the Forum. It is Tigers basketball Tuesday at the Forum with the Albany Great Danes. Meanwhile the Tigers football appearance in the Dec. 30 AutoZone Liberty Bowl is moving toward a sellout. The Tigers have sold 15,000 tickets to the bowl game including an initial allotment of 8,300. And offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey announced Monday he is leaving to take the same post at Texas A&M after nine seasons in Memphis.

With a ruling dissolving a temporary injunction, Shelby County Chancellor Jim Kyle has ended the part of a dispute between the Shelby County Commission and Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell over opioid litigation that had been in Chancery Court.

A happy council day at City Hall to you and yours. I know this is probably a new and foreign tradition to most of you – the twice a month Memphis City Council meetings every other Tuesday. Or maybe you just don't think of the sessions in that way. This time of the year can be pretty mellow – a lull before what is really the biggest season at City Hall – budget season in the spring. But the council will be pretty busy Tuesday.

Shelby County Commissioners voted Monday, Dec. 4, to hire another attorney to represent it in an ongoing legal battle with county mayor Mark Luttrell over opioid litigation. And the commission approved a resolution declaring opioid abuse a “public nuisance” as an opening to legal depositions of opioid manufacturers and distributors.

Good morning, Memphis! The holidays are in full swing, and several events this week aim to help you make a dent in your shopping list while also supporting local artisans and small businesses. Check out the details on those, plus our entertainment picks and more you need to know about in The Week Ahead...

A task force on opioid addiction and its impact on county government services is not the same as a working group. And a motion by county mayor Mark Luttrell to intervene in the opioid lawsuit filed last month by the Shelby County Commission isn’t a done deal until the county commission agrees to the terms for that intervention.

Signs of life at the old Kroger store on Exeter in Germantown. The new developers for a project that was supposed to be a Trader Joe’s have pulled a $90,000 building permit to remove the façade of the building. But no word on who the new tenant may be and some interesting remarks about recruiting tenants in general who won’t have as many trucks making deliveries in a retail center that borders a residential area.

Tami Sawyer and Sam Goff may be seeing each other on the August county general election ballot. But between now and May, they have separate primary races for the District 7 seat on the Shelby County Commission.

The Shelby County Health Department, working with several community partners, has assembled a first-of-its-kind volunteer task force in Tennessee that will respond to behavioral and mental health challenges after mass-casualty disasters.

Shelby County Trustee David Lenoir will tell you that the myriad financial education programs and initiatives his office is involved with – covering everything from helping improve consumer credit to financial counseling – are what he sees as part of his job as the “banker for the county.”

Shelby County commissioners delayed Monday, Nov. 13, a vote on a contract with Aramark Corrections Services LLC to provide food service to the Shelby County jail and juvenile detention facilities, both overseen by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

When Memphis City Council members were told in an Aug. 22 open committee session about Graceland’s plan to build a 5,000- to 6,000-seat concert venue, it wasn’t the first time local officials heard about the idea.

Pacers over the Grizz at the Forum Wednesday evening 116-113 at the foggy end of a news day that was mostly about the Grizz and Graceland. You might call it a battle of the front offices. Shelby County Chancellor Jim Kyle has the hot hand in the courthouse this week. A day after deciding – for the most part – the dispute between Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell and county commissioners over opioid litigation and the county charter, Kyle drew the lawsuit Graceland filed in Chancery Court Wednesday challenging the FedExForum non-compete clause.

The Tigers basketball home opener is a come from behind win Tuesday at the Forum over Little Rock 70-62. Still not enough to determine where this new team in so many ways is bound. But that won’t stop the early speculation … or the later speculation starting with the New Orleans game at the Forum in another week. The Grizz take their turn Wednesday with the Pacers kicking off a Grizz home stand followed by the Rockets Saturday for the third time in this young season, Trail Blazers Monday and Mavericks Wednesday. But let’s not get too far ahead here.

Shelby County Chancellor Jim Kyle left no doubt in his ruling Tuesday, Nov. 14, about who was correct between county mayor Mark Luttrell and the county commission over opioid abuse litigation in Circuit Court.

Shelby County commissioners delayed Monday, Nov. 13, a vote on a contract with Aramark Corrections Services LLC to provide food service to the Shelby County jail and juvenile detention facilities, both overseen by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

UPDATE: Shelby County Chancellor Jim Kyle ruled Tuesday, Nov. 14, that the Shelby County Commission overstepped its role and powers within county government when the commission hired a law firm and had its own attorney file a lawsuit in Circuit Court against pharmaceutical companies over opioid abuse.

Grizz lose to the Bucks in Milwaukee Monday 110-103. They return to Beale Street Wednesday to play the Pacers. Beyond that, the football Tigers are home Saturday for the next to last game of their regular season that could clinch their athletic conference.